Cenla Pride Weekend festivities in Alexandria combat shame

2:27 AM,
Jun. 8, 2014

Nita Taylor and her husband, Larry Owen, dance as local musician DC Sills sings during Cenla Pride Weekend Saturday on the levee in downtown Alexandria. For dancing to her music, Sills gave the couple one of each of her CDs.

Written by

Jeff Matthews
jmatthews@thetowntalk.com

If shame is the enemy, then pride is the hero. That's one of many ideas behind this weekend's Cenla Pride Festival, a "celebration of diversity" and the inaugural pride event in Central Louisiana. June is LGBT Pride Month (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender).

"So many times you see people who are afraid of the stigma," said Ann Lowery, director of Central Louisiana AIDS Support Services. "The more opportunities we can have to promote the opposite of shame, the more we can improve health outcomes."

In addition to food and music in downtown Alexandria, the weekend's activities included a ...